BY intervening militarily in the political and ethnic struggles plaguing the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda is essentially feeding the conflict, the international advocacy group Human Rights Watch said this week. Ugandan “meddling” has had “disastrous consequences for the local population,” the organisation wrote in a 50-page report. “Ugandan authorities meddled in rivalries among factions of the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy,” which has been sustained by troops from Rwanda and Uganda, with some of the quarrels degenerating into military actions which left civilians dead, the advocacy group said. Uganda and Rwanda, under an agreement monitored by the United Nations, have until midnight Wednesday to complete a withdrawal of troops from the frontlines in the battle over the contentious central-African country. “In competing for control of Congo’s phenomenal resources, the Ugandans, as well as other parties to this war, have committed countless atrocities against the Congolese population.” – AFP